Australia cheers trade with China, Korea

Sydney : Here’s cheers to China with more of the county’s population expected to sip on some Aussie wine in 2019 as the latest round of tariff cuts kicks in.

Bottled wine is among 1500 products included in Australia’s free trade agreement with China and the republic of Korea which had export tariffs removed or reduced on New Year’s Day.

Australian rock lobsters, tomato sauce and even fresh cherries will be more regularly found in kitchens in China after the latest round cut export tariffs on the products to zero.

But it’s not just on the meal table where the good export news flows.

True blue shampoo will be more freely lathered onto the heads of residents in China, a country considered Australia’s most important trading partner, with tariffs dropped to zero.

Chinese consumers will also be able to enjoy more Aussie fresh and frozen beef with the tariff range trimmed to six to 12 per cent from about seven to 15 per cent prior to January 1.

Lamb producers had tariffs reduced from 11.2 per cent to nine per cent on exports of fresh, chilled and frozen lamb to the booming South Korean market in the latest cuts.

The tariff on fresh, chilled and frozen Australian goat meat to the republic of Korea was also cut to nine per cent on Tuesday among the changes.

While winemakers had to wait until 2019 for the tariffs on bottled wine in China to be lifted, they’ve been sending Aussie drops to the republic of Korea tariff-free since the trade deal started.

“China and Korea are two of our largest trading partners and these tariff reductions will provide a significant boost for Australian businesses looking for export opportunities into these markets,” Federal Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said in a statement.

“Over the past five years under the Liberal-National Government our total trade covered by agreements has risen from 26 per cent to almost 70 per cent.”

Australian goods exports to China ballooned to $106.3 billion in 2017/2018, marking an 11.27 per cent increase on the previous year.

The latest round of cuts brings the total number of product lines Aussies can export without any tariffs to 5418 and 10,872, for China and the republic of Korea respectively, under the free trade agreements.

It’s the fifth tariff cut under the free-trade deal with China and the sixth reduction with the republic of Korea.